NETHER REALM

Death. Rebirth. Death. Rebirth...

This is an endless loop of events that occur and reoccur on an infinite scale.

Life is extinguished every second. Ever wondered where those who die end up?

It's called the Nether Realm, the underworld sometimes.

A place of judgment for the departed ones before they are sent back to the cycle of reincarnation based on their karma and previous doings.

Some end up in Hell where they are tormented for eternity while others are given a chance to redeem themselves.

'What the hell is this place…'

Ye Chen's soul flickered as he floated towards the center of this place.

He had just died and then he found himself here.

'Wasn't I supposed to die, why am I here? Is this some kind of a game or…'

Many thoughts ran through his soul but he lacked the answers.

He never bothered to know what came after death, anyway, it was already a complicated controversial matter. He therefore did not know of the existence of the Nether Realm or at least did not bother to know.

---

Nether Realm.

This was a place where the souls converged, their earthly forms dissolved, with their destinies hanging in a delicate balance.

The Realm existed in a perpetual twilight. A dim red sun hangs low, casting elongated shadows across the barren landscapes.

Souls would arrive at the shores of the murky waters of Nether Realm, disoriented and weightless.

Their memories would then fade like footprints in the sand before they shed their mortal husks and become ethereal beings, translucent and insubstantial.

Ye Chen watched in amazement as many souls drifted past him going up and down, left and right.

He was amazed by the notion of floating in the air like a suspended balloon.

He looked beyond the horizons where their laid a dark forest.

Ancient trees with bark like aged parchments stretched towards the twilight sky.

As he moved forward, he saw more and more structures like the courtyard that had appeared before him.

On it was written, Veiled Courtyard. A place he had to pass through before he made his way forward.

As he entered inside the hall, many souls were already there in queues waiting for their turn.

He too stepped in line as he waited patiently while observing the whole process.

There was a scale of judgement that weighed virtue against sin. There were some elderly figures who presided over the whole process. They were called Fate Weavers.

A council of spectral beings who weaved the threads of destiny as they deciphered each soul's ledger of deeds.

'This is crazy in deed, does this mean that I've passed here severally. But why can't we remember. No, this is a cool story to tell others, I have to find away not to forget it?'

Many people speculated what could happen after death but there were no defined answers, if he could be able to remember all this, wouldn't the question be solved.

Unfortunately, he was not the only one who thought the same but only under a few special circumstances would some people remember this.

---

Disoriented and weightless, Ye Chen stepped onto the scales of judgement.

The ground beneath him quivered as virtue and sin weighed against each other.

His heart raced with excitement as he tried to figure out what he should do when he was reborn again.

'Am not going too be a salted fish in this lifetime, but if by bad luck I become one, then I have to try and be the strongest salted fish at least…'

The ledger of his deaths were laid bare before him.

Virtue:

He had protected his country men.

He had not betrayed his people.

No major atrocities committed.

Compassionate and kind to the aggrieved.

Sin:

The ledger bore shadows of theft, deceit and whispered lies.

Anger and prejudice.

Unreasonable sometimes.

The scales teetered, their balance precarious. And it then happened, the two sides weighed the same.

A dilemma it was. Was he sinful or righteous?

His thoughts were disoriented at the moment.

'What will my end be?'

Only the Fate Weavers could decide his destiny.

Reaching a unanimous decision, they gave him the new chance.

"You were just a merely flawed soul and seeing that you died unjustly, you are given a chance to redeem yourself farewell!"

He was escorted towards another courtyard to await his turn of reincarnation.

---

A booming sound disrupted the peace in the Nether Realm.

Quakes and ripples filled the entire space as the entire place started to get distorted before it was completely destabilized.

A chaotic force filled the whole area suppressing everything.

An enemy had invaded the realm.

The air thickened with tension and chaos as many souls went berserk trying to get away from here.

When Ye Chen looked over, he was flabbergasted, completely astonished.

'Demons.'

They had wings on their backs and curled horns on their heads that resembled those of beasts and coupled with their heights that could reach and even surpass ten meters.

He never imagined them to be like this. Wasn't those movies he had watched before in his life a bit low level? Indeed they could not be compared to what he was seeing here.

Their purpose? A theft more audacious than any earthly crime: steal souls of their departed members and use them in cultivating more magical powers.

More than a hundred thousand members of the Demon race rampaged through the Nether Realm in full force.This level of audacity could only be with them, the Demons.

The pitiful souls who knew nothing of this were caught in the cross fire as a battle ensured between the owner and the robber.

Ye Chen watched from the side in horror as he cowered in fear.

This was a battle of spells and magic.

'Is this even possible. Aren't this just legends, how come they are so powerful!'

Fire raged all over the place as more and more spells were conjured and hurled at each other.

But luckily or unluckily for him, he was suddenly sucked in by a powerful force that did not even give him the chance to react.

He was inside a tunnel that seemed to transport him up.

'That was scary aah. I hope this tunnel leads to another realm, I don't know how this process works but it is better that back there!'